Beatrice Aitchison facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Beatrice Aitchison
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| Born | July 18, 1908 |
| Died | September 22, 1997 (aged 89) Washington, D.C., U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Goucher College (BA) Johns Hopkins University (MA) (PhD) University of Oregon (MA) |
| Known for | Executive order banning sex discrimination in the U.S. Government |
| Awards | Federal Woman's Awards (1961) Career Service Award (1970) Woodrow Wilson Award (1997) |
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| Doctoral advisor | Gordon Thomas Whyburn |
Beatrice Aitchison was an amazing American woman who loved numbers and how things move! She was a mathematician, a statistician (someone who works with data), and a transportation economist. This means she studied how people and goods travel and how much it costs. She became a very important leader in the United States Postal Service, being the first woman to hold a high-level job there. She was born on July 18, 1908, and passed away on September 22, 1997.
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Early Life and Learning
Beatrice Aitchison was born in Portland, Oregon, on July 18, 1908. Her mom was a musician, and her dad was a lawyer and economist. When she was about eight years old, her family moved to Washington, D.C., where she spent the rest of her childhood.
High School and College Years
Beatrice went to Central High School in Washington, D.C. She was a very bright student! After high school, she attended Goucher College and earned her first degree in 1928. She was part of a special honor society called Phi Beta Kappa.
Advanced Studies in Math and Economics
After college, Beatrice worked for a year in New York City. Then, she went back to school at Johns Hopkins University. She studied mathematics and earned her master's degree in 1931. She then completed her Ph.D. (a very high degree) in math in 1933. Her special research was about "point-set topology," which is a complex area of math.
Later, in 1937, Beatrice earned another master's degree, this time in economics, from the University of Oregon. She clearly loved learning and understanding different subjects!
A Career in Government and Transportation
Finding a job during the Great Depression was tough, even for someone as smart as Beatrice. She applied to many places but only found a temporary teaching job at the University of Richmond.
Early Work and Teaching
From 1934 to 1935, Beatrice taught statistics at American University in Washington, D.C. She then worked for the Works Progress Administration in Portland in 1936. She returned to American University to teach statistics again until 1939. During this time, she also worked for the United States Department of Agriculture and the Interstate Commerce Commission.
From 1939 to 1942, she taught economics at the University of Oregon. By 1942, she began working for the federal government in transportation economics. This became her main career for the rest of her working life.
Leading the Way in Transportation
From 1942 to 1951, Beatrice worked as a statistician and transportation economist for the Interstate Commerce Commission. She also helped the Office of Defense Transportation during World War II.
From 1951 to 1953, she was the head of the Transport Economics Division for the United States Department of Commerce. This division was later closed.
Breaking Barriers at the Post Office
In 1953, Beatrice started working for the Post Office. She stayed there until she retired in 1971. She became the Director of Transportation Research in the Bureau of Transportation for the United States Postal Service. This was a huge achievement! She became the highest-ranking woman at the postal service and the first woman to be appointed to a "policy level" position. This means she helped make important decisions for the entire postal service. When she retired, she was one of the highest-ranking women in the entire federal government.
Awards and Special Recognition
Beatrice Aitchison received many awards for her important work.
- In 1961, the United States Civil Service Commission gave her one of its first Federal Woman's Awards. She was chosen from over 25,000 women! This award helped her convince President Lyndon B. Johnson to create an executive order. This order officially banned unfair treatment based on gender in the U.S. government.
- In 1965, she was recognized as a "Fellow" of the American Statistical Association. This was for her amazing work in using statistics to study traffic and transportation.
- She won the Career Service Award from the National Civil Service League in 1970.
- In 1997, the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association gave her the Woodrow Wilson Award for her outstanding service to the government.
Later Life
Beatrice Aitchison passed away on September 22, 1997, in Washington, D.C., at the age of 89. She left behind a legacy of breaking barriers and making important contributions to mathematics, statistics, and transportation economics.
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Beatrice Aitchison
